Thales Calls for International Framework to Govern AI Development
Thales CEO Patrice Caine says AI can be kept under control with technical safeguards backed by government oversight, urging an international framework.
France's Thales has urged the creation of an international framework to govern the development of artificial intelligence, arguing that governments must set the rules that sit above technical safeguards.
Speaking in Paris during a presentation of war-fighting technology, chief executive Patrice Caine said he was confident that machines could be kept under control. He described the question as one for governments rather than a purely technical matter, and said the world needs a proper framework layered on top of existing technical guarantees.
The remarks come amid a wider debate over how quickly AI should advance and whether stronger guardrails are needed. A day earlier, Finance Minister Roland Lescure pressed France and Europe to speed up their own AI development to avoid depending on US providers. In the United States, President Donald Trump has rejected calls from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and other Silicon Valley leaders to slow the pace of AI development.
AI is taking on a growing role on the battlefield, where it is used to analyse data from drone footage and satellite imagery to identify targets and help commanders make faster decisions.
European defence companies are rolling out their own AI-enabled targeting systems after NATO selected US analytics firm Palantir Technologies' Maven Smart System for command operations at its headquarters. Thales said its recently launched Hexaforce system would strengthen both sovereignty and operational performance for NATO and its allies, while playing down the idea of direct competition with Palantir, whose rapid growth has raised concerns in Europe about reliance on US technology platforms.